Naruto Barrier

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Sooooo this story is a response to a challenge by my roommate. I normally HATE gender-bent stories since the majority of them come off as writing off gay OTPs in a more conventional, straight couple, and making it easier to make one character of said OTP fill out a traditionally feminine role. That's just my opinion, though. More to the point, I had come across two gender-bent stories in separate fandoms. I decided to give them a chance, but they were badly written and ended up having stupid plots, so they made me irritably role my eyes numerous times. My roommate noticed and asked why, and I ended up telling her that I have yet to find a GOOD gender-bent story. So she challenged me to write one myself, so this is a result of my stubbornly showing her I can and I will.**

**A small warning: the bulk of the story will be in the second chapter…just thought you should know. **

**Onwards with the story!**

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><p>"Sasuke…I'm in love with you," confessed Naruto, avoiding direct eye contact.<p>

Sasuke's mind was blank upon hearing what the blonde boy had to say.

What? Just…_what_?!

He had managed to keep his expression neutral during all of what his friend had to say, but he was doubtful that he would be able to retain such a countenance for much longer. Sasuke was pretty sure that the only reason he had been able to not show any external reaction was because of his Uchiha upbringing.

He stared at the blonde boy for a moment longer; trying to process everything that had happened in his head. Naruto may or may not have been fidgeting under his stare, but Sasuke was not really paying attention to that.

"Well? Say something?" Naruto demanded tersely in a low voice, still not making eye contact.

Classic Naruto…the guy was always letting his impatience get the better of him. Would it have been too much for him to let Sasuke gather his thoughts?

How was _Sasuke_ supposed to know this conversation would end up so damn confusing? The two of them had met up before their college classes started for coffee at the campus coffee shop as usual on Thursdays since they did not share any classes together. But Naruto had been strangely quiet for being such an idiot, and had refused to say why when Sasuke had demanded for explanation; only furthering Sasuke's suspicion that something was wrong.

THEN Naruto had burst out that he had something important to say today, and had demanded that the two meet up by the Konoha University picnic benches by the campus Tree after classes were done. Sasuke had _tried_ to point out that they were already talking to each other at the campus coffee shop, but Naruto insisted on privacy and time before running off.

If Sasuke had known that they were going to talk about _this_ then he would not have agreed to Naruto's demands. He had no IDEA that they were going to talk about…_WHAT_?

"I just…_what_ did you say?" Sasuke murmured in response. His Uchiha upbringing might have allowed his expression to remain neutral for so long, but that clearly did not allow him to keep stunned bewilderment from his voice.

Naruto's blue eyes furrowed with exasperation as he finally met Sasuke's own eyes with a weak glare.

"I _said_," Naruto repeated with impatience in his tone, "I. Love. You."

The familiar phrasing washed over Sasuke with the warmth of relief.

Naruto told EVERYBODY that he loved them! He was an I-love-you slut, giving those words out to anyone. It was his thing; a part of who Naruto was. He had even said it to strangers as a form of greeting and introduction! Naruto could barely go an hour without telling SOMEONE that he loved them. He said it to Sasuke probably at least thirty times a day.

The blonde must have thought that the Uchiha was being bogged down with stress from all their senior year workload and was looking for a way to cheer him up. An obviously misguided attempt, since the conversation had filled Sasuke with dread and more confusion than anything. But now that Sasuke understood, it was a nice sentiment.

Naruto was assuring Sasuke of their friendship through words he said on a daily basis; albeit in the strangest and most aggravatingly confusing way possible, though.

But that was Naruto. If he was not annoying Sasuke every other day, then the rest of the world fell into chaos.

A familiar smirk found its way to Sasuke's expression. This was something the two went through every day: the blonde declared friendly love and the raven did not make a big deal about it.

Upon seeing the smirk, Naruto lost his frown and began to smile instead.

This, too, was familiar. The blonde was usually full of smiles whenever they were outside, sitting by the tree like this.

The world felt _right_ with the two of them sitting together; Sasuke leaning against the tree and Naruto sitting next to him. Usually, though, Naruto would be sprawled out, using Sasuke as a pillow. Or, they would sit back-to-back against each other, using the other as support. This was fine, though, since everything was normal, and Naruto was not talking about…about…

No, they were just sitting together and having a normal conversation.

Sasuke's smirk widened as he said, "Thanks for the reminder, idiot. You have not told me that for three days so I thought I was one of the first to be reprieved from a daily I-love-you message. But now I can see you were saving it up for a speech."

He left the jibe open, fully expecting Naruto to shout back at him, telling the Uchiha that the speech was 'fantabulous or 'awesome-possum' and that he should appreciate it more. Then Sasuke would tease the blonde about his vocabulary, making Naruto shout out some more colorful words; most of which he probably would not be able to say out in public if he were anywhere else but on campus.

Tease and banter…and occasionally fight. That was Naruto and Sasuke's relationship with each other, and had been since move-in-day of freshman year. Though back then, it was more about fighting 'man-on-man battles of epic rivalrymenship' as Naruto had so charmingly phrased it.

Naruto, however, did _not_ respond the way Sasuke had expected him to.

Instead of smiling that mischievous grin that made blue eyes squint, Naruto's expression fell. His eyes widened with an open gesture of dismay.

Concerned, though not all that willing to show it, Sasuke asked, "What's wrong, dead-last?" He made sure that his tone was still teasing and had deliberately used an insult that usually riled the blonde up so they were practically in fist-fights.

"No," Naruto shook his head violently like a dog—and his roommate, Kiba—would. Then he looked back up at Sasuke with a strange desperate, defiant, and still dismayed expression.

"What? You _don't_ love me?" Sasuke asked, keeping his smirk in place. In truth, he was getting worried about how upset his best friend was getting, but it was not like either of them were going to start sharing their feelings over a bowl of ice cream. That's what chicks did.

Unfortunately, the desperation and the dismay in Naruto's expression grew as he clutched his head and shook it again with more vigor. "No, no, no. I _DO_ love you!" he stopped shaking his head but did not let go of it, or looked Sasuke in the eye as he continued, "I love you, but not…it… It's not like that! This is different! It's DIFFERENT from how I usually say it!"

"Idiot, what are you talking about?" Sasuke asked cautiously. He had a dreadful feeling that he _knew_ what direction this conversation was heading… He had gotten enough confessions all throughout high school and these past few years of college to recognize the warning signs…

But he never thought he would be hearing it from…from…from _Naruto_!

If Naruto noticed any warning in Sasuke's tone, he did not heed it and instead flushed furiously as he plunged on, "When I _usually_ say 'I love you'….they…they are just WORDS, you know? But this…this is something different! This is…this is actual _emotion_!"

The two met eye contact; blue eyes burning with a passion that Sasuke feared. If they stopped now, they could pretend that they were not talking about…about _this_.

Once again, Naruto heeded no warning as he confessed, "I love you in a romantic way. Like I never want to be away from you! I want to stay by your side! Hell, I look forward to the classes we share even though they are boring as fuck because I get to sit next to _you_! And I thought that just being your best friend was enough, but I love you too much! I love you in a 'damn, I wished we were as in love as that couple' way! Like I want to _be_ a couple way!" Naruto took a breath as he plunged on, "I am not in love with you because of how you look or because of your family name. I love you in _spite_ of that. You could shave your head from that duck-butt hairstyle, get a whole bunch of acne, start dressing like a hobo, get disowned and change your last name to 'fucktard', and gain enough weight to be on that 'Biggest Loser' show Sakura made us watch, and I would STILL love you." Naruto's blue eyes filled with warmth as he went on to describe, "I love you for your soul, your heart, and because of who you are, Sasuke. You've always been special to me, and now I can tell you it's because I'm in love with you."

There was silence between the two as they maintained eye contact.

Sasuke had _no_ idea what was going through Naruto's obviously scrambled brain at the moment, but his _own_ brain was a concoction of too many thoughts and being uselessly blank all at once.

Naruto being Naruto had NO sense of tact at _all_ and asked beseechingly, "Do you…have, y'know…feelings for me too?"

"What? No." Sasuke rejected the idea before he could fully register just what Naruto had said.

Blue eyes widened and looked away. Before Sasuke could really make sense of what was going on, Naruto stupidly, STUPIDLY asked quietly, "Are you sure? I mean…we do a lot of couples-y stuff…"

"…What do you mean?" Sasuke asked warily. He had no idea what the other had meant by 'couples-y stuff'.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with a somewhat awkward expression as he said, "You know…"

Sasuke did not dignify that with words since it was most obvious that he, in fact, did NOT know.

Seeming to catch onto the hint despite refusing to meet Sasuke's eye—which the Uchiha was grateful for—Naruto said, "We do stuff that other couples don't do…like Kiba and Hinata! They don't do HALF of the stuff we do!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, not caring at all about what Naruto's roommate and his girlfriend were up to. The blonde was purposefully withholding information from Sasuke and it annoyed him greatly.

Naruto fell quiet. He removed his hand from the back of his neck and instead started playing with the dirt surrounding the tree they were next to. He was blushing heavily as he elaborated, "You…send me 'wake up' texts in the morning, and I send you 'good night' texts at night. On days we don't have classes together, we start the day by meeting up for coffee…and whoever gets there first orders for the other person! We always sit next to each other in the classes we share. It's gotten to the point where professors and our classmates know that we'll KNOW if the other isn't coming to class! And, and we walk each other to our afternoon classes! Like, I always escort you to class before heading over to mine, and you pick me up after yours if finished! Whenever we have some free time, you're either in my room, I'm at your off-campus apartment, or we're going out somewhere together. We go out to eat at Ichiraku Ramen at least once a week. And we…you…you let me hold your hand sometimes when we walk, and you're always giving me piggy back rides. Every weekend, I'm either at your apartment or you're spending the night in my room…sleeping with me IN MY BED!"

After his little outburst, Naruto quieted down, fingers still playing in the dirt, but his attention undeniably on the Uchiha.

Next to him, Sasuke's brain could not be any louder. It was only because of his Uchiha upbringing that he managed to keep his expression neutral.

Knowing that blue eyes were glued to him, Sasuke needed to consider things carefully.

Everything Naruto had said…it was just wrong. Well, not _wrong_, per say, just not RIGHT. The stuff they did that Naruto had described was not 'couples-y'. It was just a part of their friendship with one another; their completely NORMAL and NON-ROMANTIC friendship.

First instinct was to outright deny everything. After all, Sasuke got love confessions every week.

But this was NOT an ordinary love confession. This was NARUTO! Who just happened to be confessing his love to Sasuke.

And even though he loathed to admit it: Naruto's friendship actually meant a great deal to Sasuke, and unlike those other people Sasuke hung out with, his best friend was irreplaceable.

Slowly, and with deliberation, Sasuke met Naruto's eyes and said solemnly, "Those are not indicative of being in a couple, Naruto. We do such activities because we trust each other, enjoy each other's company, and are _friends_."

Naruto's expression fell when he heard the emphasis on the last word. The Uchiha kept his own countenance detached. He hated hurting his best friend like this, but it was not like he could phrase this in any other way without hurting him even more. He and Naruto were JUST _FRIENDS_.

But because they were best friends, Sasuke would not treat this like any other love confession. That was why he allowed that talk about trust and enjoyment of each other's company. Normally, the Uchiha was loathe to use such blatant vocabulary about feelings, but Naruto was obviously talking about something emotional and had put himself in such a vulnerable position that Sasuke had vowed that he would see this through and offer as much explanation as the other required.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke again, his eyes bright with a hope akin to desperation as he asked in a beseeching tone, "Don't you…don't you think we're MORE than friends at this point?"

Sasuke decided that he could allow another acknowledgment of their bond and nodded slowly, but cut in before Naruto could properly react, "We are like _brothers_ at this point."

The blonde immediately turned his head so he was not facing the raven.

"I…I see," said Naruto in a meek tone.

Before Sasuke could say another word, Naruto abruptly stood up.

He turned the rest of his body so there was absolutely no chance for Sasuke to see the other's face. He made a show of dusting the slight dirt off his faded jeans and his black T-shirt with an orange swirl on the back.

"Heh, sorry about all that," Naruto laughed, and Sasuke could almost HEAR the smile so forced it practically hurt. Without turning around, Naruto used his compulsorily cheery tone and said, "Do me a favor, will ya, and pretend this whole thing never happened?"

Without another word or warning, Naruto took off running.

Still in a solemn daze, Sasuke could only watch in silence as his best friend bounded over the slight hill that their campus tree rested under. Once the blonde reached the top, he quickly picked up pace and practically raced off towards the direction of the dorms.

Heaving a sigh worthy of Shikamaru, Sasuke picked himself up off from sitting against the tree.

This was going to require alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

He stuck his hands in his pants pockets and made his way up the hill as well. It was not particularly steep, but there were stray roots popping up and large clumps of grass. Many a drunk student walking from the nearby bars had met their match and fell down the hill when walking back to the dorms.

Sasuke lived in an off-campus apartment; the opposite direction of the dorms, closer to town where the bars were. It was annoying since over the weekends, students would fill the bars and be extra loud, making the Uchiha seek sanctuary in the ironically quieter dorms on such nights in Naruto's room.

That option was clearly out of the picture since neither of them would be able to just 'pretend this never happened' as Naruto had pleaded.

This made the location of his off-campus dorm even more annoying, but at the moment, Sasuke was grateful. At least there was no chance of him running into Naruto since the blonde had run off in the opposite direction.

Naruto's description of their activities together kept reeling around Sasuke's mind as he continued to walk across campus to his apartment.

Maybe…MAYBE those actions between a girl and a boy were indicative of being more than friends, but he and Naruto clearly did not fit into that description.

The parallels between his and Naruto's activities and those of a boy and a girl just would not leave his head, though.

Maybe…MAYBE if Naruto was a girl…

No, the idea was ridiculous. Naruto was clearly a male…and the Uchiha just learned that Naruto was a male with partialities for other men.

…But still…Naruto could make a very pretty girl. Blonde hair would probably be worn long, since Naruto had spent so much time fawning over Sasuke and Ino's hair when both of them had kept _their_ hair long…and probably in pig-tails since that was the primary 'style' Naruto knew how to do whenever the two girls demanded that Naruto brush their hair since apparently the idiot was good at that.

Long hair or short, though, Sasuke was thinking about his very obviously MALE best friend. The boy who used to challenge the Uchiha to fist fights practically every day during their first semester of freshman year…and then to only once a week. He was also the BOY who downed fourteen bowls of ramen in a single sitting; usually slurping them straight from the bowl!

…But still…their 'couples-y' actions would make more sense if Naruto were a girl…

Not that it mattered. Sasuke had seen the other shirtless countless times whenever they went to the gym together, crashed at each other's places, or if the blonde was simply feeling overheated. There was no denying the lack of breasts or that obviously male physique.

…But still…if Naruto was a girl, then there would probably be no reason for them to not be dating… Sasuke would at LEAST _consider_ it…

"Yo! Sasuke!" a voice called out in front of him.

Looking up, Sasuke saw that the person who had called out and that was currently waving and walking towards him was Kiba, Naruto's roommate. The guy was walking with his girlfriend, Hinata.

The girl, the Uchiha could deal with. She was quiet and unobtrusive. She did not needlessly put herself in other people's business and avoided confrontation like it was poison ivy.

The boy, however, the Uchiha could NOT deal with. He was loud and obnoxious. It was a mystery to Sasuke if Kiba truly did make it his mission in life to butt into other people's business, or if the boy truly was as unbelievably dense as he seemed.

The way Kiba was ignoring the Uchiha Glare, Sasuke was willing to bet some hard cash on the latter.

Sasuke briefly considered turning around and walking in the opposite direction, but the thought was fleeting as it had become abundantly clear that Kiba would rush forwards to catch up to the Uchiha based on how the idiot was waving and calling out his name some more.

When he got close enough, Kiba _did_ rush forwards and stood directly in front of Sasuke, blocking off his main means of exit. Hinata was standing a little bit to the side of Kiba, indirectly blocking off Sasuke's other direct escape route to his apartment. If he wanted to get away, his only options were to try to dart around them on the grass or to turn around. But both of those were also out of the picture since there was little to no chance that Kiba would leave things alone. If Sasuke did not want to be chased down, then he would need to stay put until Kiba's short attention span was drawn elsewhere.

Kiba bore a big smile—though not as big as Naruto's—as he clapped Sasuke on the shoulder and said, "Hey! I guess congratulations are in order!"

Sasuke glared at Kiba for touching him.

Kiba flinched a bit and withdrew his hand to a safe distance away from the Uchiha. But that did not deter him from being annoying since his smile was back as he shouted, "SO! Congratulations!"

The Uchiha did not bother to react to whatever the dog-resembling idiot was saying. He was not even glaring. Sasuke had no idea what Kiba was spewing out 'congratulations' for, but he doubted he would care about it.

Either ignoring Sasuke's confusion or being completely oblivious to it—Sasuke was betting on the latter—Kiba continued on to excitedly chatter in his too-loud voice, "So, you two are like, official now, right? It's about damn time! I swear, the only people that did not know that you two were going out was you and Naruto! But that doesn't matter now because you guys ARE going out now! It's like fina-fucking-ly!"

Upon Kiba's words, Sasuke's stomach began to fill with dread.

NOW he knew what Kiba was talking about.

Sasuke did not know how to respond. First Naruto springs an out-of-nowhere confession, then he asks Sasuke to pretend like it never happened, and NOW Naruto's roommate not only knew about the confession but had also assumed that Sasuke returned those impossible feelings. He needed a moment to get his thoughts together.

Unfortunately, Kiba did not give him that moment.

"This is great!" Kiba shouted as he pumped a fist in the air, "Now that there's another couple in the group, we can go on a fuckin'-wicked double-date! Hinata's always talking about how we need to do more things with other couples! Haven't you, Hinata?" Kiba threw a glance back at his girlfriend, grinning excitedly. When she merely jumped at being addressed so suddenly, Kiba's grin widened as she shrugged, returning his attention back to Sasuke and saying, "Well, in my head she's always saying that. Couples are supposed to be wanting to hang out together, right? AND NOW WE CAN! Aw, man! This is going to be awesome! We can have, like, double-date-nights!"

Throughout the tirade, Sasuke's expression maintained his stony Uchiha mask.

There would be no _double _-date night since there would not even be a DATE-night.

He and Naruto were not a couple. They could never be a couple. They would never be anything more than friends. Best friends, practically brothers, if that was any consolation. It probably was not, though.

As Kiba continued babbling about plans—talking about simple dinner dates or just hanging out in his and Naruto's dorm room as two couples—Sasuke felt his expression darken; not just with aggravation but also with a rising guilt.

The way this idiot talked, all excitedly and with an anticipating smile, indicated that all the gibberish spewing from his mouth was not spur of the moment.

Naruto and Kiba must have made these vague plans together. Sasuke had never had a roommate, being from such an affluent family, but he was aware that living in such close proximity to another created a bind where both parties could speak freely to one another. The two had most likely spoke about this often enough, and in happy tones if Kiba's exuberance was anything to go by.

Judging from the lack of surprise on Hinata's face—and even her own small form of excitement—when Kiba started babbling about double-date ideas, Sasuke presumed that she had been a part of these conversations as well.

Hinata caught Sasuke's eye as he glanced at her. When he did, her expression fell from her quiet enjoyment to one of solemn understanding.

Stepping forwards so she was standing next to her boyfriend, Hinata lightly tapped Kiba's shoulder.

"Mm? Whatsup?" Kiba cut himself off from babbling about sharing popcorn three-ways during movie dates so he could turn his smiling attention onto his girlfriend.

Hinata's light gaze never left Sasuke as she said softly, "I th-think we have mis-misunderstood the s-s-situation, Kiba."

"Misunderstand?" Kiba asked, confused. He looked between Hinata's serious regard and Sasuke's stony countenance.

The girl obviously understood what was going on, which was why Sasuke tolerated her to such a large degree. Maybe, he hoped, her methods of unobtrusive observation and mature understanding had rubbed off on her idiot boyfriend when it really mattered.

Kiba's eyes widened as he made noises of understanding before his expression morphed into one of amusement, "Ohhhh, I gotchya." He winked at Sasuke, "You want to go on SINGLE dates before going out with other couples!"

Sasuke's hopes had been in vain.

The Uchiha had wanted to keep his countenance a strictly detached Uchiha mask of indifference, but the stupidity the other was exuding was too great and Sasuke succumbed to frowning in irritation.

Obviously not understanding the simple rule of running away whenever an Uchiha frowned, Kiba avoided Sasuke's eye as he smiled reminiscently and babbled, "Yea, I can see that. Naruto kept hounding me and Hinata here about first date ideas for WEEKS! Apparently going out to the local steakhouse wasn't a good enough idea, so he started asking other couples." Kiba scratched his nose as he barked out a laugh, "MAN that guy doesn't know the meaning of 'discreet'! He kept using the old 'asking-for-a-friend' excuse, but anyone with a brain could see that he was asking for ideas for where to take you out."

Sasuke distantly wondered how Kiba filled out the requirements of seeing the truth. But the thought was fleeting amongst the new waves of guilt that washed over the Uchiha.

…It sounded like Naruto was truly excited about the prospect of Sasuke sharing his feelings…

Another laugh was barked out by Kiba as he said in a slightly quieter voice, "I think he kept asking so many people because he wanted to assure himself that he wasn't an idiot for wanting to take ya out for a proper date. I mean, he was so nervous about telling you how he felt in the first place…Kept psyching himself out in how ya wouldn't feel the same way. He almost didn't tell you at all! But once I asked what kind of place would he take you out on a hypothetical date, he realized that he never planned for anything other than not tellin' you his feelings! So he got that old Naruto-Determination we all know and love and before we knew it, he was making date plans and back-up date plans! Never saw the guy so intent on research for anything school related, but what can I say? His heart was really in it! He wanted to make sure you had a great time." Kiba laughed again and gestured a thumbs-up to Sasuke, declaring, "So you're welcome for whatever he's got planned for you! And you're welcome for giving him that extra push in asking you out!"

Sasuke's irritated frown deepened.

He did not want to hear this. It was bad enough to bear the knowledge that he did not share Naruto's feelings, but to also be told about the war between nervousness and excitement that had only ended in rejection for Naruto?

No, Sasuke already felt bad enough. He honestly felt guilt that he did not share those feelings.

He simply did not see Naruto in a romantic light; the guy was practically his brother!

_Maybe_ if Naruto was a girl, then it would not have been such a stretch to consider Naruto as a dateable option, but all thoughts about that, Sasuke knew, was only a fleeting excuse.

All this required alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

Hinata, noticing Sasuke's frown, lightly tapped Kiba's shoulder again to get his attention. When she got it, she gently shook her head in the negative and said quietly, "Th-that is not what has b-b-been mis-s-mis-misunderstood."

Kiba's hands flew to his mouth in a dramatic gesture of shock. "No way! I didn't give it away, have I?"

When Hinata only gave him a slightly puzzled expression in response—no doubt not quite understanding her boyfriend's words—Kiba turned back to Sasuke, his expression a mix between apology, regret, and anticipation.

"Dude! I'm _SO_ sorry! Just…just pretend you didn't hear anything, kay?" Kiba rubbed his head furiously in obvious frustration with himself and started muttering, "Dammit, I thought for sure Naruto had talked to him already!" Kiba whipped his head to face Hinata again and hissed, "I thought Naruto already told Sasuke how he feels! He said he was going to do it after classes today! And you know about how he is about keeping his word! Dammit, and he was so excited this morning he woke me up when he usually lets me sleep in to let me know today's the day!"

Hinata did not look up to meet Kiba's eyes. She, no doubt, was also hating listening to all this, knowing that Sasuke had rejected Naruto.

Kiba was not paying close attention to anyone else as he turned back to Sasuke and said, almost pleadingly, "Hey, man, I didn't mean to say so much! Uh, think you can act surprised when Naruto tells you everything himself? I _so_ didn't mean to ruin the surprise!"

Sasuke did not care. He just wanted the other person to shut the fuck up.

He did not want to hear anything more.

Apparently, Hinata was of the same opinion.

She tapped Kiba's arm for the third time. When he turned to look at her, her soft demeanor was hardened a little in grim determination as she said, "You d-d-did not ru-ruin the s-s-s-surprise, Kiba. N-N-Naruto has al-already s-spoken to S-S-S-Sas-Sasuke."

"So I didn't ruin everything?" Kiba asked, his expression alight with relief. It did last long, though, as Kiba glanced back at Sasuke before returning his attention back to his girlfriend. His expression was unusually serious as he asked with a certain amount of trepidation, "Then what's up with the long faces?"

Hinata glanced at Sasuke and her fingers visibly tightened against Kiba's sleeve. Her pale eyes returned to face Kiba as she said, "S-S-S-Sasuke d-d-does not sh-share the s-s-same f-f-feelings…" she trailed off, unable to say more.

She apparently did not need to, as Kiba _finally_ showed his ability to use his brain and seemingly understood immediately.

Kiba abruptly turned to face Sasuke, allowing Hinata to withdraw her hand from his sleeve. He took a threatening step towards the Uchiha and asked, "What?!"

Sasuke allowed his frown to deepen. He may have felt guilt, but that was only aimed at Naruto. He held no such reservations about this idiot before him.

Kiba opened his mouth, his own expression furious, and was no doubt preparing to shout and pick a fight with Sasuke.

He was interrupted, though, by Hinata tugging insistently on his sleeve again. Before he could even turn around, Hinata said in an unusually assertive voice, "Kiba, Naruto n-n-needs a fr-friend right n-now."

Kiba froze, and the Uchiha could see the dusty cogs moving in that empty head of his.

He turned back to Hinata, who removed her hand from his sleeve, and nodded his head; indicating that he would indeed go to Naruto.

Suddenly, Kiba pivoted back to Sasuke and punched him in the eye.

As Sasuke hit the ground, he heard Kiba sneer, "You deserve a lot worse, you bastard. Be thankful I don't have the time now to kick your ass."

The next thing Sasuke could hear were Kiba's shoes hitting the ground as he ran down the sidewalk, most likely back towards his shared dorm room to where Naruto was.

Sasuke appreciated that. Not because of Kiba's threat, since there was no way in hell that he would ever be able to follow through; Naruto was the only one able to hold his own in a spar with the Uchiha.

No, Sasuke was appreciative because like Hinata had said, Naruto was in need of a friend.

He had started to pick himself up when Sasuke felt delicate hands attempting to help him.

"…I don't need help," Sasuke murmured, ignoring Hinata's gentle touch so he could use his own strength to get up. He made an effort to ensure his tone was not malicious, though. He never cared about that mutt of his best friend's roommate, but Hinata…she was tolerable.

Hinata gave an example of how agreeable she was by nodding and standing aside as Sasuke rose to his feet.

As he stood, Sasuke gingerly felt around his eye. He internally winced, though he showed no external reaction. Kiba was most certainly an idiot, but he knew how to throw a punch. Of course, a large part of it was the fact that Sasuke was not in the mood for a physical fight, so he had held himself back.

Sasuke noticed Hinata still standing next to him as he lowered his hand from his bruised eye. "Are you not going to see Naruto?" he asked. After all, she herself had been the one to point out that the blonde would need social support at the moment.

But Hinata surprised the Uchiha by shaking her head in the negative. Her expression was unusually solemn and serious as she said in a quiet voice, "N-no. Nar-Naruto w-would not ap-ap-appreciate a cr-crowd at th-the mo-moment. B-besides, Kiba is w-wi-with him."

Sasuke held back a snort of disbelief. Kiba was as sensitive as sand paper. But, he was also one of Naruto's closest friends. Second only to Sasuk—

…Kiba was probably Naruto's closest friend at the moment…

The Uchiha saw Hinata shift in his peripheral vision, prompting him to glance over at her.

She wore an expression of sad understanding as she said, "B-besides, y-you need a f-fr-f-friend t-t-too."

Sasuke restrained himself from reacting, though it took a considerable amount of effort.

_He_ was not the one in need of comfort. He was the one rejecting Naruto; Sasuke was meant to reap what he sewed while the blonde received the benefit of being cared for.

Naruto deserved as much. Sasuke did not.

But, in her own quiet—yet steadfastly polite—way, Hinata expressed a determination that clearly stated she would not be leaving any time soon.

She had not been this resolute during their freshman year; this was all Naruto's doing. He had corrupted her into becoming more self-confident.

Sasuke met her gaze and decided that he would allow this…for the moment. Then he would need alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

"Hn," he grunted, sticking his hands in his pants pockets. He started to walk back down the sidewalk towards his apartment rather than the dorms, but he kept his pace deliberately slow enough so that Hinata could join him.

Understanding his intent, Hinata caught up to him so they were walking together at a leisurely pace.

They were both silent, making Sasuke curse to himself in his head. He was forever taciturn and she was forever shy. No matter what wonders Naruto had done by corrupting her into a new confidence, Hinata rarely started conversations on her own initiative; especially for delicate subjects such as this one.

It looked like they would need to round the block at least once if they were going to get through this conversation. Then Hinata would leave him alone and he would be able to numb the day in his apartment alone with alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

The Uchiha mentally groaned. Usually he had these kinds of talks—about _emotions_—with NARUTO, and he was free to dig in his heels every step of the way. The blonde always had to work for every word or reaction from Sasuke, and had always been up for a physical fight for whenever said emotions ran too high.

But Sasuke could never do that to Hinata. And she would be too damn polite to push when Sasuke needed a shove. Worst of all, Sasuke would need to get this all done and over with within one talk with the girl since he could not leave it off for small—violent—increments like he would have with Naruto.

There was not much left of the sidewalk, and they had yet to say a word.

Mentally bracing himself, Sasuke said, "You are allowed two questions." He would not be answering anything more, and would prefer to answer less.

Hinata jumped at being addressed so abruptly, probably assuming that they would make it to Sasuke's apartment before he deigned to speak.

Maybe he was being rude, but at the moment he did not care. This was as polite as he was going to get since dammit, it had been a stressful last couple of hours.

It took a moment, but Hinata finally nodded, accepting his terms. Not that he assumed anything else.

"D-Did Nar-N-Na-Naruto t-tell you h-h-how he f-f-feels?" Hinata stuttered, carefully avoiding his gaze, twiddling her fingers together.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. He was not feeling particularly chatty.

They had passed the sign welcoming them to the town off campus, and it was only a couple of blocks to his apartment. But she only had one question allowed left, so hopefully she would leave soon and Sasuke could be left alone.

Hinata was silent for a moment, and then asked—if possible—in an even quieter voice than before, "A-a-and how d-d-d-do you fee-feel in r-r-r-re-re-return?"

Dammit. She had asked a whopper of a second question.

He wished she could have asked what he had _said_ in return rather than _felt_. At least then he could have said he rejected Naruto and left it at that.

Noticing his silence and misinterpreting it, Hinata elaborated, "I j-j-jus-just w-want t-t-to un-underst-stand s-s-s-so th-the others w-won't bo-bother y-you."

They both knew that was a lie. Even if Sasuke explained himself in full, Naruto's friends—and Sasuke's begrudged acquaintances—would continuously bother him. They were all disgustingly close to each other, much to the Uchiha's annoyance, and did not seem to understand the definition of privacy.

However, if Sasuke spoke with Hinata now, that would at least delay the onslaught of questions and loud opinion-sharing the Uchiha was inevitably going to endure. Those idiots were sure to go to Hinata for a general idea of the information.

Even knowing this, Sasuke was not a _sharing_ person. But he DID promise the girl two questions.

In a low voice, Sasuke answered, "I feel like I cannot return what Naruto claims to feel for me. I consider us family, like brothers. I intend to remain his friend, but understand that things will be…changed and awkward for the time being."

He would not elaborate anything further.

Thankfully, Hinata did not demand for any more explanation. Judging from the slight frown on her delicate face, she was not entirely satisfied with the answer, but Sasuke knew that she was too shy to press any further. And he was not inclined to boost her confidence on the matter any time soon.

His apartment was approaching, just about three blocks away. He was not in the mood to entertain any guests. He was in the mood for privacy. And alcohol.

But he himself had a question. Since he did not want to go circle around for a longer conversation, he might as well ask them.

Abruptly, Sasuke asked, "Why does everyone believe Naruto and I to have romantic feelings for each other?"

Hinata was startled and immediately flushed red. Her pace slowed dramatically as she fidgeted furiously.

Because he truly wanted to know the answer, he too slowed his pace to match hers. He also kept his gaze forwards so he would not slow down any reply.

"Uh…u-uh…well…" she stammered. She took a deep breath and pressed on, "Y-you two a-a-a-are s-so cl-close…"

When she did not say anything more, Sasuke turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow at her, silently urging her to continue.

Even though she kept her sight to her fidgeting fingers, Hinata acknowledged his prompting with a nod. She took a breath and then quietly said, "W-well, you t-t-two are e-e-exc-exceptionally cl-close. Y-Y-you re-regularly-ly send him g-g-g-good m-morning texts a-a-and he s-s-sends you g-good n-night texts… Y-you two sp-spend e-e-every d-day to-together. On d-d-days y-you don't have cl-cla-cl-classes together, you h-have coffee to-together be-before the d-d-day st-starts. Y-you two s-sitting next t-to each oth-other in cl-class is s-s-so norm-normal th-that it is assu-assumed to n-not s-sit n-next to eith-either of you u-until it is c-confirmed that th-the other i-isn't there…a-and professors kn-know th-that one w-will kn-know where the oth-ther is if o-one of y-you doesn't sh-show up t-t-to class…Y-you escort ea-each other t-to a-and from cl-class…and ev-every weekend, y-you are eith-ther at N-N-Nar-Naruto's dorm or h-he is at you're a-ap-apartment…"

She fell silent, and started to fidget her fingers even more.

Sasuke returned his attention back to the sidewalk. They were getting close to his apartment, and he did not want Hinata to come inside. He wanted to be alone.

That meant that he did not have much time to be as taciturn as he usually was, so he quickly gathered his thoughts.

"…We _are_ close," Sasuke muttered, "but there is nothing more to our relationship than being just friends."

As they approached the building's doorway, Sasuke stopped. Hinata stopped a little ways behind him.

He spared her a glance. As a testament to how emotionally drained he was by the ordeal and needing to _talk_ about it afterwards, instead of dark hair and light eyes, Sasuke momentarily saw blonde hair and blue eyes on the woman's body.

Shaking his head in weariness, Sasuke muttered, "I just do not consider him in any other way than a brother." He rubbed his eyes and sighed, "Maybe if things were different…if he were a g—" he cut himself off.

No. What he was about to say was stupid.

Just more proof that he needed to drown the day away in alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

Hinata spoke up softly from behind him, "I un-understand… Th-there are s-s-some barriers th-that c-c-can't be o-ov-overcome or overlooked… L-L-Like g-gender-barriers…"

Sasuke did not want to say anything more. So instead, he just grunted, "Hn,"

He stopped by the door to the apartment building. He purposefully stood in front of it, blocking entrance to the girl and simultaneously silently ordering her to leave. The hell with being polite; if she lingered, he would verbally tell her to go.

Thankfully, the Hyuuga heiress understood the gesture and nodded.

She bade him an ever-polite wave, she bade him farewell and turned around.

Sasuke stayed in his position, waiting until she had turned around the corner. Although the area around campus was safe, this street still had the local bar down the street, and he was raised better than to allow a woman to walk down such a street unguarded.

When she was out of sight, Sasuke pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the outer door to his building.

Inside, he walked over to the elevator. Luckily for his terrible mood, he did not need to wait long for the door to open. He pressed the button for the top floor, where his apartment was.

As he did so, more irritation swept through him. Sasuke had fond memories of this elevator with a rather drunk Naruto. He would never recount the story aloud, but it was rather amusing to watch his friend insist that he spoke elevator and shouted 'DING' whenever they went up a floor.

But as things looked now, it seemed that he would not witness a conversation between his best friend and the elevator again for a long time.

Sasuke repressed a scowl with difficulty. '_Do me a favor, will ya, and pretend this whole thing never happened?_' Naruto had requested.

Pretend it never happened? How could anyone pretend that their best friend had never confessed love to them? Or for that matter, how could anyone pretend that they had never confessed love _to_ their best friend?

No. Naruto may have been skilled with pretending things did not bother him, and Sasuke may have been an Uchiha, but neither of them would be able to '_pretend this whole thing never happened_.'

With a frustrated sigh, Sasuke stepped off the elevator on his floor and walked over to his apartment door, keys in hand.

When he entered, the first thing the Uchiha did was toss his bag uncaringly to the side and marched directly to his liquor cabinet.

Normally, he was not a fan of mixing the types of alcohol he drank; preferring to drink one type for an evening. It was common knowledge that drinking one type of hard liquor, then beer, or then another type of liquor spelled trouble for the stomach a couple of hours down the line and would be hell the next morning.

But dammit. It was not every day that his best friend confessed love to him.

Sasuke needed a drink.

And he was not in the mood to make himself a happy drunk tonight.

He grabbed tequila with one hand, and used his free hand to grab a shot glass.

The Uchiha did not bother to mix in any flavor into the drink. Whenever he had done so in the past, it was really for Naruto's benefit rather than for his own.

Tonight the tequila was not for any enjoyable drinking rituals, but rather to down a few shots before wallowing in misery with his least favorite kind of alcohol: beer.

When he grabbed his shot glass, his fingers had almost automatically reached for its accompanying counterpart of a different color that belonged to Naruto.

Black eyes widened minutely before quickly seizing his own and placing it on the counter. He closed the cabinet door and blocked the offending glass from his sight.

It did little to block the memories, though. After they had both turned twenty-one, Naruto had demanded that they find matching shot glasses 'to mark the occasion'. But they needed to be 'perfect' and something that they could 'share for the rest of their lives'. Sasuke had wanted something simple so they could get things over with, but the blonde insisted on making the event an experience. So it took over three hours to find simple, blank, glass shot glasses at the local super-store. Sasuke would have been irritated, except Naruto had also bought small color-dot stickers. The blonde had decorated them so that his own shot glass was most orange with a few blue dots here and there, while Sasuke's had been mostly back with a few dots of red here and there.

Sasuke paused as he placed his singular shot glass on the counter.

Singular. Because he and Naruto were not a couple.

He felt guilty, and felt guilty for feeling guilty.

But priorities needed to be set. Things needed to be done before the Uchiha could even _think_ about sorting out the mess of these '_feelings_' and the obvious 'lack thereof'.

First of which being: cut off possible communication to him.

He was no fool. Sasuke was the one who had hurt Naruto by rejecting THOSE _feelings_. Sasuke knew perfectly well that Naruto would deny that anything had ever happened; that their little talk had gone swell, better than he could have thought; that there was nothing to worry about; and that Naruto would claim to be absolutely be fine. He would even claim to be "better than fine, actually".

The thing was, Naruto's friends were not fool either…at least, when it came to supporting one another. They had been slow to catch on, but eventually, within the three and a half years of knowing the blonde, those friends of his had been able to learn that Naruto would hide his feelings behind that bright smile of his. It took a while sometimes for them to catch on—Sakura was one of the only ones who accurately be able to tell when the smile was fake—but Sasuke knew that they would swarm like bees for this one. This time, they would have ample pre-warning with Kiba on the loose.

With that in mind, Sasuke turned off his cell phone. The Uchiha was in no mood for any messages from those idiots. He then meticulously went through all his electronic devices, like his tablet and his laptop, and turned them all the way off too as well instead of in sleep mode.

He even went through the trouble of dead-bolting his front door. There was only the _smallest_ of probabilities that one of Naruto's idiotic friends would make the trip to Sasuke's apartment to chew him out; but the Uchiha would take no chances.

When all chances of communication were cut off from him, Sasuke was safe enough to return back to the kitchen. And back to the alcohol.

Sasuke was nothing if not methodical. He reached within his refrigerator and grabbed all the beers from the back. He never cared for the taste, but they came in cheap bulk. At least, that was Naruto's argument whenever he forced Sasuke to keep a large stock in his apartment rather than the blonde's dorm…which already had enough alcohol.

Black eyes narrowed as Sasuke's traitorous brain _helpfully_ reminded him that Naruto would probably not want to visit anymore, so the Uchiha might as well drink all the distasteful beer himself.

Nearly growling at himself, Sasuke rapidly poured himself another shot of his faithful tequila. He downed a shot. And then another one in quick succession.

_THAT_ should shut his brain up for a while.

Tequila itself would not kick it tonight. Not by itself, at least. So Sasuke walked with the grace of someone entirely-too-sober towards his liquor cabinet and pulled out the large container of Bacardi Dragon Berry Rum that Naruto had _insisted_ Sasuke keep at his place for whenever Sakura visited; as it was her favorite drink.

Not caring about any decorum, Sasuke drank right out of the bottle. He could only manage three gulps before pulling the bottle down and grimacing a bit. Rum was never his forte.

Rum _did_, however, seem to be working. Already his stomach was churning.

Normally, Sasuke knew better than to mix different mediums in drinks. Certain alcohols did not mix well together; especially if he was planning on adding beer to the mix later. And he planned to.

But this was not a normal night. His best friend put him through emotional turmoil that the Uchiha did not have the emotional maturity to deal with, so he was going to DRINK, dammit!

As uncouth and downright _stupid_ means of coping drinking was, Sasuke was not in the mood for dealing with things in a healthy or mature manner.

Another gulp of the rum. Another grimace.

Maybe it was time to go back to the tequila.

As he downed another shot, Sasuke felt the alcohol work itself to his brain. It made his head feel heavy, but it was worth the price just to feel his thoughts loosening.

Twisting off his first beer, Sasuke thought to himself just how utterly _stupid_ all of this was.

Sure, he and Naruto were close. They were like brothers. But that did not mean that they were like…like a COUPLE!

Couples were like boys and girls…or, now that Sasuke was older, men and women. His parents were man and woman. They were a couple.

Another good swig of beer. His brain was getting drunk, and it felt good.

Sasuke had had many girls tell him that they would make good couples together…since couples were man and woman.

He knew that he was being a bit homophobic. Woman and woman could be a couple. Man and man could be a couple. But Sasuke could not be a couple.

Finished the beer. Found another beer.

He had only considered being part of a couple in passing, really. It was expected of him: marry a woman someday and create a family.

Naruto was like family…but he was not a woman…so different kinda family…

Maybe if the blonde was a girl, then they could be a couples kind of family…

Dammit…if Sasuke's brain could come up with something as ridiculous as THAT, then it was CLEARLY too sober.

He reached for the tequila and started drinking straight from the bottle.

This was going to be a long night; one he fully intended on forgetting.

* * *

><p><strong>And that was the chapter!<strong>

**I am supposed to be writing a research proposal…but I already had 33 pages down on that, so I can take the time to write this little dabble…right? Damn, these past few months have been stressful. So much so that I can't find the motivation to do anything.**

**Reviews help motivate me, though. So please let me know what y'all think of this story. Please and thank you!**


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Naruto, Romance